Silvery Argus (Pseudoaricia nicias)
2009 photos highlighted in yellow. Click on any photo to go to an enlarged picture, or simply scroll down the page.
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| 17517_male_Hautes Alpes_08Jul09 | 17414_male_Hautes Alpes_07Jul09 |
An exquisite little butterfly of the mountains. The upperside colour is often shown as a pale dullish silvery blue with narrow darker borders in most books, but I have generally found it to be rather bluer and with very broad almost-black borders. Before 2006 I had only seen it once at the Col de Vars, but in 2006 I found it in good numbers (ten or more) in two or three Alpine locations, and again in 2007. I only fleetingly saw one in Switzerland in 2008, none in France, although it was at several locations in France in 2009. The female is plain brown and I have never knowingly seen one, so I'm relying on the books here. The underside is very pale and delicate, with a characteristic white stripe and often almost yellow around the unh lunules.
17517: a male, puddling. I have only seen it nectaring on one occasion, otherwise when it is puddling. Altitude 2000m.
17414: a male underside, showing the delicate colouring and markings. Altitude 2000m.
17517_male_Hautes Alpes_08Jul09
17414_male_Hautes Alpes_07Jul09
